You’re working out a direction for your new business and have some degree of clarity on what that will be, and how you will execute it. You believe it will be profitable, but you’re not sure whether or not you’ve put the plans together to maximize your profit. Here are a few ideas on how to examine your new business direction through the profit “lens”.
1. Is your new direction powerfully bolstered by playing to your strengths and expertise?
When you build a new business plan where you’ve clearly got the skills and experience, it automatically raises the value of your services. Starting anew, as one of a crowded field of competitors where you don’ have standout credentials, makes closing sales harder, and lowers your potential profitability.
2. Aim for a well-funded niche willing to spend for the solutions you provide.
It’s best when this niche recognizes your specific specialty as uniquely prepared to handle their needs. This will increase your profitability by making it easier and more predictable to close sales. Aim for a target market who has the money, and a willingness to spend it. Position your business so that you’ve got unique ability to solve their problems.
3. Look for a market with a “crying need”.
When working to solve crying needs you don’t have to do such hard work convincing prospects that they need your solutions. They are desperately looking for resolution. There’s intensity to their search and they want their problem solved, NOW, or even better yesterday.
4. Make yours service better, more complete than your competitors’.
Make a point of fully satisfying the client’s needs. Put together your offering to encompass all facets of the prospect’s needs. Go beyond what your competitors do. Make your service distinctive, rising above the competition. This allows you to increase your profitability.
5. Select a target market that values excellence – and deliver excellence.
Clients will pay a premium price to receive excellent results. Targeting those who value excellence will save you from working with those who are underfunded and under-motivated (and can often be a drain on the profitability of your business). Of course, they have higher expectations, but if you’re aiming for the correct target market, that should not be a problem for your business.
6. Look for ways to increase your value to clients.
Combine a product with your service. Create packages of services. Add a new expertise. Combine skills for a new offering. Examine what clients request of you. How can you add value by fulfilling client requests?
7. Let your prospects know that you have solved that same problem they suffer from.
When you have a compelling story to tell about having had the same problem your target market is looking to solve, it increases your credibility and profitability to tell it. It’s even better if you’ve come up with your solution because of your own experience. Make it plain that you want to help others who are now suffering as you once did. The whole story about how you came up with the solution and evolved it through working with clients is a moneymaker. Of course it must be sincere and genuine.
8. Ooze competence.
Competence is valuable and shows up in net profit. Present yourself as a problem solve and be one. This is a singularly attractive trait. Prepare ahead and show professionalism. We are all intensely attracted to the highly competent.
9. Keep it simple.
Everyone has such complex lives nowadays, that simplicity itself lends considerable value. Don’t make it simplistic, but do make your services easy to understand. You want prospects to be able to easily imagine working with you and to be able to fantasize about what that could be like.
When you’re taking your business in a whole new direction, take the time to examine how you can increase the potential profitability of what you are embarking on. Spend that time up front, build profit into your endeavor, and you will take home the money later.…
